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Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart are mending a few fences at Atlanta this weekend. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Kenseth says helmet tosses 'fun to watch'

August 31, 2012

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Matt Kenseth enjoys a good helmet toss as much as anyone else--as long as it's not directed at him.

But that was the case last Saturday night after Kenseth and Tony Stewart wrecked while fighting for the lead on Lap 332 of the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Stewart climbed from his car and launched his helmet into the nose of Kenseth's No. 17 Ford as Kenseth was driving down pit road.

"That stuff is always fun to watch, [but] I hate being involved in it," Kenseth said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I don't like that part of it, but I always like watching it. I love watching other people's conflicts. I mean, everybody does. It's human nature."

After the incident at Bristol, Stewart promised to run over Kenseth every chance he got for the rest of the season. At a media event on Tuesday, however, Stewart backed off those remarks, citing the heat of the moment as the origin of the threat.

For his part, Kenseth doesn't seemed worried.

"Honestly, last week I was really surprised," he said. "I wasn't trying to put our cars in a bad situation, I thought we were going to make it through there, and I thought it was going to be all right, so I'm not sure what all went down there.

"But, actually, Tony and I, in general--99 percent of the time, at least--show each other more respect and more room on the track than probably most people have. There have been a couple of instances here and there, but I think, overall, we try to show each other a lot of respect."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes fans can relate to the emotion Stewart showed after his wreck with Kenseth.

"I'm sure everybody watching the race has somebody's neck they'd like to wring," Earnhardt said Friday at Atlanta. "Maybe they live vicariously through that emotion in some way. There's probably a co-worker or two they wouldn't mind running their fist into his face. It's probably more likely than you imagine. . . .

"When we get out [of the car] and do things such as Tony did, the fans really connect to that. They really connect to that emotion. And driving down the road, somebody cuts you off on the highway--you would love to shoot them the bird or something. Maybe you do."